The Centre
Party (Norwegian: Senterpartiet,
Sp) is a liberal,[13][14] centrist[3] and agrarian[3][14] political
party in Norway, founded in 1920. The Centre Party's
policy is not based on any of the major ideologies of the 19th and 20th
century, but has a focus on maintaining decentralised economic development and
political decision-making.
From its
founding until 2000, the party had joined only non-socialist governments, but
in 2005 changed its allegiance and joined the Red-Green Coalition
government led by the Labour Party.
Since 1972, the Centre Party has also maintained a principled opposition to
Norwegian membership in the European Union.
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History[edit]
The party was
founded at the national convention of the Norsk Landmandsforbund during
17 to 19 June 1920, when it was decided by the association to run for the 1921
parliamentary election. In 1922 the association was renamed to the Norwegian
Agrarian Association, and the political activity of the group was
separated as the Farmers' Party[note 1] (Bondepartiet).[15]
During the
eight decades since the Centre Party was created as a political faction of a
Norwegian agrarian organisation, the party has changed a
great deal. Only a few years after the creation the party broke with its mother
organisation and started developing a policy based on decentralisation, moving away from a
single-minded agrarian policy, like that which has trapped many other European
Centre Parties' conduct.
The 1930s have
in the post-war era been seen as a controversial time in the party's history.
This was as Vidkun Quisling,
who later became leader of Nasjonal Samling, had been a Councillor of State
for the party, and later even, the Farmers' Party had been negotiating with
Nasjonal Samling for a coalition government. The negotiations did however stop,
and the Farmers' Party supported a Labour government. Political scientist Trond Nordby in 2009 also said that the Farmers'
Party has been given an undeservably bad reputation from this time, and that
the party was not really "as dark brown as some claim".[16]
In 1959 the
party changed their name to the Norwegian Democratic Party — Democrats (Norsk
Folkestyreparti - Demokratene), but soon had to change the name again due
to election technicalities. In June 1959 the name was changed to the current Centre
Party. This happened out of the need to attract an additional electorate with
the continuing decline of the agrarian share of the population.[15]
In local
elections, the party enjoys strong support in several small municipalities,
where the party has a strong influence. After the 2007 elections, 83[17] of the mayors in Norway represent the Centre Party. Only the Labour
Party has more mayors, and relative to party size, the Centre Party has more
mayors than any other.[18]
The Centre
Party had supported only non-socialist coalition governments from 1930 to 2000,
in seven governments, three of which were led by a Prime Minister
from the party. By 2005 however, in the 2005
parliamentary election the party ran for government together with
the Labour Party
and the Socialist Left
Party, as the Red-Green Coalition,
with the Centre Party constituting the "green" part of the alliance.
The coalition was successful in winning the majority of the seats in the Storting, and negotiations followed with the aim
of forming a coalition cabinet led by the Labour Party's leader Jens Stoltenberg. These negotiations succeeded
and the Centre Party entered the Second
Stoltenberg Cabinet on 17 October 2005 with four ministers. The
Red-Greens were re-elected to government in the 2009
election.
In late 2012
the Centre Party caused controversy in Norway when it emerged that the party
had demanded higher import tariffs on meat and hard cheeses to protect
Norwegian farmers from foreign competition.[19] This included increased duties of 429%
on lamb, 344% on beef, and 277% on all but 14 exempted hard cheeses. [20]
The party is
known in Norway for their support of high toll tariffs on foreign cheese and
meat, called "toll protection",[21] and their proposal to shoot all wolves
in Norway.[22]
List of party leaders[edit]
- Johan E. Mellbye
1920–1921
- Kristoffer
Høgset 1921–1927
- Erik Enge 1927–1930
- Jens Hundseid 1930–1938
- Nils Trædal 1938–1948
- Einar Frogner 1948–1954
- Per Borten 1955–1967
- John Austrheim 1967–1973
- Dagfinn Vårvik
1973–1977
- Gunnar Stålsett
1977–1979
- Johan J. Jakobsen
1979–1991
- Anne Enger Lahnstein
1991–1999
- Odd Roger Enoksen
1999–2003
- Åslaug Haga 2003–2008
- Lars Peder Brekk
(acting) 2008
- Liv Signe Navarsete
2008–
Government participation[edit]
Governments led
by Centre Party Prime Ministers:
- The
Government of Peder Kolstad
1930–31 (minority government)
- The
Government of Jens Hundseid
1931–32 (minority government)
- The
Government of Per Borten 1965–71
(coalition
of Sp, H,
KrF,
and V)
With Prime
Ministers from other parties:
- The
Government of Lars Korvald
(KrF), 1972–73 (coalition of KrF, Sp, and V)
- The
Government of Kåre Willoch (H),
1983–86 (coalition of H, KrF, and Sp)
- The
Government of Jan P. Syse (H),
1989–90, (coalition of H, KrF, and Sp)
- The first
Government of Kjell Magne Bondevik
(KrF), 1997–2000 (minority government coalition of KrF, Sp, and V)
- The second
Government of Jens Stoltenberg
(Ap), 2005–present (coalition of Ap, Sp
and SV)
Parliamentary election results[edit]
|
Year
|
%
of votes
|
Seats
|
|
1921
|
13.1
|
17
|
|
1924
|
13.5
|
22
|
|
1927
|
14.9
|
26
|
|
1930
|
15.9
|
25
|
|
1933
|
13.9
|
23
|
|
1936
|
11.5
|
18
|
|
1945
|
8.1
|
10
|
|
1949
|
7.9
|
12
|
|
1953
|
9.0
|
14
|
|
1957
|
9.3
|
15
|
|
1961
|
6.8
|
16
|
|
1965
|
9.4
|
18
|
|
1969
|
9.0
|
20
|
|
1973
|
6.8
|
21
|
|
1977
|
8.0
|
12
|
|
1981
|
4.3
|
11
|
|
1985
|
6.6
|
12
|
|
1989
|
6.5
|
11
|
|
1993
|
16.7
|
32
|
|
1997
|
7.9
|
11
|
|
2001
|
5.6
|
10
|
|
2005
|
6.5
|
11
|
|
2009
|
6.2
|
11
|
New logo (2010)[edit]
In December
2010, the Centre Party changed its logo to what it called a more
"natural" clover.[23] Leading graphic designers were after
the release critical of the new logo, calling it weak and unprofessional, and
sarcastically questioned if the party had actually printed an early sketch of
the logo by an error.[24] Soon after, it was found by the media
that the logo had been taken from an image which were found on several
image-sharing websites, such as Photobucket.[25] Still, within a few days, it was also
found by a botanist that the plant on the image was in fact
not even a real clover, but a common wood sorrel (gauksyre),[26] even though the party says on its own
website that the logo is "more like the clovers we find in nature" in
contrast to their earlier logo.[23] The party later released a statement
that they would retract the new logo and return to the drawing board.
Notes[edit]
1.
^ Though Bondepartiet is sometimes translated as the "Agrarian
Party", sources such as the Centre Party itself[1]
and Statistics Norway[2] use the term "Farmers' Party".
References[edit]
3.
^ a b c d Parties
and Elections in Europe: The database about parliamentary elections and
political parties in Europe, by Wolfram Nordsieck
5.
^ http://www.tv2.no/nyheter/politisk/valg09/mener-senterpartiet-floerter-med-nasjonalisme-2835402.html
6.
^ a b Morstøl, Kjersti T. "Fra bondeparti til sosialdemokrati". Universitetsavisa
(NTNU). Retrieved 11 November 2009.
7.
^ Archer, Clive (2005). Norway outside the European Union. London:
Routledge. p. 68. ISBN 978-0-415-28279-6.
8.
^ Rommetvedt, Hilmar (2003). The Rise of the Norwegian Parliament.
London: Routledge. p. 190. ISBN 978-0-7146-5286-3.
9.
^ Hazan, Reuven Y. (2000). Centre Parties. London: Continuum
International. p. 35. ISBN 978-0-8264-4763-0.
11.
^ "Valg 2011: Landsoversikt per parti"
(in Norwegian). Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development.
Retrieved 18 September 2011.
12.
^ "Senterpartiet". Valg 2011 (in
Norwegian). Norwegian
Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
14.
^ a b Svante Ersson; Jan-Erik Lane (28
December 1998). Politics and Society in Western Europe. SAGE.
p. 108. ISBN 978-0-7619-5862-8.
Retrieved 17 August 2012.
15.
^ a b Tvedt, Knut Are (29 September
2009). "Senterpartiet".
Store norske leksikon.
18.
^ Helljesen, Geir (March 16, 2007). "Sp
vil ha flere ordførere" (in Norwegian). NRK. Retrieved
2009-09-04.
19.
^ Berglund, Nina (10 October 2012). "Protests rise over meat and cheese". Views
and News from Norway. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
20.
^ "Changes to border protection for selected agricultural
products". Government of Norway. Retrieved 29 October 2012.
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